Beer: Reviews & Ratings

Bottle thanks to Fro my first St. Arnold beer. Pours deep brown with minimal head. Smell is bourbon and vanilla, with a hint of chocolate. Taste is sweet bourbon finishing with vanilla, hint of oak and slight roastiness. Hides the abv well. My only complaint is the carbonation is a bit too prickly. Delicious beer, like easy drinking chocolate bourbon. Can't wait to try the others in the series! (397 characters)

Definitely let this warm up all the way to blossom. In the front, it is again that bourbon character with lots of vanilla and coconut. A hint of caramelized banana possibly, but mostly just caramel and rich sweetness. The bourbon character lingers throughout with watered down bourbon on the finish. No sense of the cacao nib.

The mouthfeel is quite watery for the style at a medium to light, but it has carbonation to move the beer around.

In the end, wenot much izebock nor cacao nib in this as advertised. However, it's still a very tasty bourbon barrel beer, more towards a bourbon barrel wee heavy. (798 characters)

Might tasty, although the balance is a little tilted toward sweetness. Coconut, vanilla, rich caramel malt, long sweet bourbon barrel finish with lots of lingering coconut. Bare hint of bitterness at the end; good freshness and drinkability despite the sweetness.

Nose is quite nice, a mix of bourbon and dark raisin malts. Bourbon out front, bit of vanilla barrel, big sweet malts with caramel and brown sugar and candy, toffee, molasses, some nice raisin and brandy, lots of caramel candies. Just a hint of cocoa though.

Taste is ok, a little thin, then into nice sweet candy, lots of caramel and that candy wheat biscuit toffee, little molasses too, but not syrupy. Mild bitterness, grassy hop, little booze, then into little cocoa and vanilla barrel, mild milk choc and a little raisin. The bourbon is there but much less than the nose. Finish is drier with little sweet malt, little toffee and caramel, biscuit wheat toffee, little bourbon and raisin, that's about it.

Got in a trade with cyde. 12 ounce bottle into tulip glass, bottled on 7/26/2013. Pours lightly hazy/cloudy very dark reddish brown color with a 2 finger dense light khaki head with good retention, that reduces to a small cap that lingers. Spotty soapy lacing clings around the glass, with a moderate amount of streaming carbonation. Aromas of cocoa, chocolate, brown bread, caramel, raisin, light banana, clove, vanilla, toffee, bourbon, oak, brown sugar, and light yeast earthiness. Damn nice aromas with good balance and complexity of malt, barrel, and yeast ester notes; with good strength. Taste of big cocoa, chocolate, brown bread, caramel, raisin, vanilla, toffee, bourbon, oak, clove, brown sugar, light banana, and yeast earthiness. Lingering notes of cocoa, chocolate, brown bread, caramel, brown sugar, vanilla, toffee, bourbon, oak, light clove and yeast earthiness on the finish for a good bit. Fantastic complexity and balance of malt, yeast, and bourbon barrel flavors; with a great malt/barrel flavor balance and zero cloying flavors after the finish. Medium carbonation and medium-full bodied; with a creamy and lightly slick mouthfeel that is nice. Alcohol is very well hidden with only a light warming present after the finish. Overall this is an awesome Barrel aged weizenbock. All around great complexity and balance of malt, yeast, and bourbon barrel flavors; and very smooth to sip on. A highly enjoyable offering. (1,438 characters)

A: Pours a deep brown, nearly black with very little head that leaves traces of lacing on the sides of my snifter.

S: Bourbon, chocolate and some dark fruits. A bit of oak from the barrel and some vanilla and caramel come through but strong sweet bourbon is dominant.

T: Beautiful up front notes of cocoa and baker's chocolate, alcohol heat that doesn't overpower, and some dark fruity notes. All in all it is well put together and the flavors complement one another well.

M: Medium to full bodied but extremely smooth. The alcohol comes through but doesn't overpower the flavors and this is a nice sipper.

O: My first Bishop's Barrel and it is a great one. I don't think I will get to try this again but I'm glad I did! (724 characters)

12 oz bottle courtesy of fthomasl pours a clear-ish chestnut color with a moderately sized froth of fine-bubbled tan head. Retention and lacing are both fantastic.

Nose has more in common with a barrel aged stout than a weizenbock...but the coconut, vanilla and oak are all there. Good barrel aromas but the base beer is definitely covered up.

Taste is coconut, vanilla and...weizen yeast?? Thats cool, and somewhat interesting but the barrel is a bit much and leaves me disappointed I cant taste much of the base beer. Dont get me wrong, it is a tasty beverage - but I just feel like it has a ton of flavors that are similar to the first few Bishops Barrel beers. Id have to go with 'meh' on this one and at $8 a bottle...no way jose. (737 characters)

T: Reminded me of a bananas foster with bourbon. Strong taste of banana to go along with the bourbon. Alcohol level masked well.

F: Medium bodied

O: Have only had BB2 and BB4. These two beers are completely different. However, the bourbon from the aging came through clearly which I enjoyed. Certainly not a stout, but certainly a beer well worth trying. (507 characters)

bottle @ Stag's Headserved ice cold??? (it even seemed like it was on ice as the label was wet) by far my least favorite and the least flavorful of this series. the scent was of slight bourbon and a faint banana sweet aroma. It looked pretty dark, but I didn't study the color as it was dark in the pub. Strong bourbon flavor, weak mouthfeel & body and some banana notes that seem to fade in and out and remain absent from most sips. It's like there isn't much of a beer behind the bourbon barrel aging and the flavor just completely clips out at the end, like a Michelob Amber Bock that's been BBAged, and you've just chased it down with a shot of tonic water. As it warmed it almost seemed to lose flavor, banana barely fading in and out. I noticed nothing from the cocoa nibs or any type of chocolate characteristics. Saint Arnold has been doing a great job so far with their Barrel aged beers, and that distinct BBA flavor certainly comes through again here, but the base beer couldn't carry it this time. Interesting experiment but rather disappointing.

Updated 10/11/13: I've tasted others since then and they were much, much better, I suspect the first one I tried had been compromised by temp. extremes. Very good brew, but still doesn't quite stack up to 1 & 3 (1,272 characters)

Low to medium carbonation on a medium bodied ale. Great booziness mingled with chocolate and vanilla on the nose. It's slightly hot, but delivers a solid combination of vanilla-bourbon, milk chocolate, and bananas. As it gets to room temp it gets creamier. A great tasty beer from SA and they continue to produce solid beers in this series. Cheers! (391 characters)

A: Pours a dark brown with ruby around the edges. At first a large, bubbly beige head forms that rises to over two fingers. Though noisily and quickly fades to a small ring. Little lace is left.S: Vanilla, toasted malt, caramel sweetness. Big barrel aromas. Wood, and more vanilla. Sweet, bourbon, malty. Nice, but a bit simplistic.T: Toasted malt, almost burnt toast like. Cereal grains. Then the barrel flavors kick in. Vanilla, wood, and sweetness. For the most part, very similar to BB 1 and 3. Even though they are very different styles.M/D: A medium body with effervescent and bubbly carbonation at first. Though, as this breaths, the carbonation is quickly cut down. Like the others in the series, just a bit watery. Plenty of alcohol and barrel character that makes this a slow sipper.

If anything, this is a bit to similar to BB 1 and 3. Not a bad beer, but nothing that screams any kind of uniqueness IMO. Let alone anything that resembles what I wanted in a barrel aged Weizenbock. More of a strong brown ale/bordering on a stout. I was really looking forward to this one, and a bit of a let down. BB 2 is still the best in the series so far. (1,157 characters)